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BlackBerry 10 Sales Not Going Well For BlackBerry

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BlackBerry 10 is BlackBerry’s big effort to make itself relevant in the mobile space again, but analysts say the launch isn’t going very well.

A Wall Street Journal report says ITG analyst Joe Fersedi believe BlackBerry Z10 started off poorly, and didn’t improve after the initial launch. In fact Fersedi says that sales “weakened significantly as the days passed.” Sales for the Z10 are “in line-to marginally ahead of anemic sales” of the Nokia Lumia 822 on Verizon and older generations of BlackBerry devices.

Another analyst, Detwiler Fenton claims that returns of the BlackBerry Z10 actually outnumber sales of the smartphone.

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In response, however, BlackBerry claims reports of high return rates are false. The company says returns of the phone are the same as other high-end phone, and even better in some regions.

Last quarter BlackBerry said it sold 1 million Z10 units, though the phone wasn’t available in the U.S. at that point. There’s no word on how many units the company sold since the U.S. release.

Unfortunately for BlackBerry, it might have a hard time selling the phone in the U.S. because Americans don’t know the new platform is even available yet. A recent report from MKM Partners claims that 83 percent of Americans aren’t aware that they can buy the BlackBerry Z10 right now. The phone is currently available on AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.

The BlackBerry Z10 sells for $199 on two-year contracts on both AT&T and Verizon, though the phone is available for less on Amazon. Amazon Wireless sells the phone for $99.99 to new users on either carrier. Those upgrading to the BlackBerry Z10 will have to pay $139.99 for the phone, which is still less than what the carriers ask for the phone.

There is a belief that among analysts that sales will pick up with the BlackBerry Q10 later this year. That phone may not come to U.S. carriers until May.

13 Comments

13 Comments

  1. originaldub

    04/11/2013 at 3:38 pm

    You should note that they surveyed a grand total of 250 people for their poll – statistically it means nothing. Too bad people are so eager to publish even when its based on little if any concrete information. Come on man. If you tale yourself seriously you would dig a little deeper than this.

  2. Mike

    04/11/2013 at 6:29 pm

    Statistically it actually means more than you think. After hearing this news this morning myself and a few others headed to the mall to do our own survey of sorts. In a 4 hour period we witnessed over 20 iPhone sales, 7 android, 1 windows and 1 blackberry. This survey was conducted at the only “mall” located in the same city as blackberry. Home turf advantage non existent.

    • Chris

      04/11/2013 at 8:08 pm

      That’s great that you did that but it’s still just the one mall. I am assumming you are referring to Waterloo. When you are talking about a population you would want a larger sample size in order to decrease the margin of error.

      I got annoyed because too many people ran this today without any mention of the survey size. Everyone loves to jump on bad news.

      • Mike

        04/11/2013 at 8:52 pm

        Sorry I forgot to mention that (in going along with today’s news on returns) we witnessed 1 z10 return and 1 exchange for what appeared to be a defect. So in our small sample sales and returns were nullified.
        To be fair, there were 2 iPhone swap outs (both older gen devices) that we could see, but not any returns and people leaving either with something else or empty handed.

  3. Larry

    04/11/2013 at 8:03 pm

    I liked the z10 I think blackberry came a long way!! And finally no ball on key pad etc, I wasn’t much for blackberry but I have to say wen I looked at the z10 I was impressed, it sure looked better than a lot of other phones and no stupid menue button like iPhone but was plastic but had a nice clear crisp screen and a good feel to the phone..

  4. Dr. Hannibal Moot (@hannibalmoot)

    04/12/2013 at 6:30 am

    What a load of garbage. These polls are meaningless. They are such a small sampling and they don’t say who they polled! If I surveyed 100 seniors in an old folks home and they didn’t know BB 10 had launched, what does that mean??

    And the supposed writers who perpetuate these ridiculous figures are absolute hacks. Tech news has turned into National Enquirer tabloid trash. How exactly do returns outpace sales?? People are returning phones that were never sold???

    I’ve seen biased reporting about several companies but I’ve never seen anything like the tainted unprofessional and sometimes, outright blatant lies that have been written about BB.

    There was even a financial report posted that had BBRY as a disastrous stock to stay away from at all costs but recommended RIMM as a good buy with potential for growth…in the same article!!!

    It’s unfortunate that all it takes is for a few of the “big” name tech sites or financial sites to post some biased cooked up numbers for every hack blogger looking for hits to reference them like it means something.

  5. Rick

    04/12/2013 at 7:41 am

    BB is doing just fine… there are so many people that have shorted the stock they push this garbage news. Have a look at the fundamentals, the company is already profitable – duhh!!! with NO US market yet. Also, the Q10 is hitting the world soon. How many keyboard units do you think they are going to sell??? More phones are coming by Christmas for mid-tier pricing.
    What a joke. BB is back. It is by far the newest, freshest operating system on the market with a starting point that rivals all platforms on the market today. Lets see what this what this website says in one years time… they’ll be jumping on the good news bandwagon.

  6. Vince

    04/12/2013 at 8:27 am

    How is it possible for returns to outnumber sales?

  7. brian

    04/12/2013 at 8:33 am

    Sorry for the ad-hominem but I could not help myself. The author reminds be of the kid in 2 1/2 men. His article is equally weighted.

  8. Bill Wood

    04/12/2013 at 10:01 am

    Guys – the small sampling I can agree with – but there are some important business features that are not in this phone at the moment. For years BB business linked the MS program ‘Outlook’ to BB’s. At launch this feature was left out – and that’s when the returns started. At this point they are still working on this valuable feature for business. The web is filled with forums of unhappy customers. I am unfortunately one of them. I cannot transfer any contacts, or calendar items from Outlook in the new Blackberry. Really too bad because the phone is ahead of everyone’s time. BB dropped the ball on this big time.

    • Bill

      04/12/2013 at 11:58 am

      This is exactly the type of issue that is completely unacceptable from any company let alone BBRY nowadays. They used to be a staple for email/business services and have had over 2 years to develop this new O/S yet they can’t accomplish something so simple yet important like this.
      For crying out loud on my ‘gasp’ iPhone I can take a photo of a business card and it automagically becomes a contact with all relevant fields filled out. Then simply plugging the phone into USB populates outlook with the data. What else can really be said other than they just don’t ‘get’ it over there in Waterloo anymore.

  9. Dr. Hannibal Moot (@hannibalmoot)

    04/12/2013 at 1:48 pm

    Blackberry has taken this report specifically to the SEC and the Ontario Securities because this company has not been able to provide backing for their numbers and this type of info is having a direct effect on stock prices.

    Good. I hope they go after more of these “researchers” who can’t back their claims, and the press who perpetuate unfounded claims. It’s become so painfully obvious that some people have more to gain by BB’s stocks dropping and they are doing everything possible to manipulate that position through the media.

    Like I said, it’s been done many times before with different companies but I think this is the most obvious and blatant I’ve ever seen. Legitimate gripes and bugs, problems, etc are one thing but spreading false research, etc needs to be dealt with legally and monetarily.

    • John

      04/12/2013 at 4:53 pm

      Their gonna whine and do nothing but create more negativity towards their brand. They would be further off shutting up and let the numbers speak for themselves come next earnings call. That is of course, if they have anything positive to show. Somehow me thinks this this small sampling that these goons performed might be more accurate than people want to believe.

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